Zeitschrift für Otologie und Rhinologie

Trace Elements and Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Study

Khalid Al-Sebeih, Hamoud Alarouj, Bashaer Abdullah, A Walaa AbouSheleib

Trace Elements and Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Study

Background: Sudden sensorineural hearing loss is a potential medical emergency that is routinely encountered by otologists. Little is known about the mechanism of sudden hearing loss. Several factors have been postulated to elicit the etiology of (SSNHL). However, in the majority of cases of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL), no cause is identified and it is then considered idiopathic SSNHL. The role of some trace elements disturbance has been challenged in the pathophysiology of SSNHL, trace elements are inorganic chemical elements that are necessary in extremely small or trace amounts for the living cell. Our study aims to correlate between the level of trace elements in serum and ISSNHL.

Materials and methods: In this prospective study, seventy-five patients presenting with idiopathic sudden hearing loss of 30 db or more were enrolled in study group over a 24 month period. Control group were patients who presented to the outpatient clinic of otorhinolaryngology department with no otologic complaints. All candidates (control and study group) received a through checkup, including history, physical examination, tunning fork test, hearing evaluation using pure tone audiometry and tympanometry. Blood samples were obtained and the serum level of the following trace elements: Iron, Zinc, Magnesium, Copper and selenium were measured and analyzed via Varian atomic absorption spectrophotometer.